Ignoring the Gauges
It all began eight months ago. Chelsea and I were getting ready to take a couple of her friends flying when I noticed that the ammeter was showing no charge coming from our airplane’s alternator. Since it was morning and everything electrical seemed to be functioning properly, I decided to take off and monitor the situation. We completed the short flight without incident. A few days later I went out to the plane and started it up to see if the ammeter was still showing no charge. But this time the gauge came alive and everything functioned normally. I checked the back of the gauge, looking for a loose wire, but everything felt tight. I assumed there must be a loose wire somewhere else and that the gauge must be faulty. Over the last eight months, this pattern continued: one day the gauge would show no charge and the next everything would be back to normal. That is, until one day a few weeks ago. It was my second flight in as many days and both times the ammeter had registered zero. We got about twenty minutes into our flight when the electrical system began shutting down. The autopilot suddenly wouldn’t hold a heading. The GPS screen started slowly fading. The intercom became inaudible and the radio chatter disappeared. Immediately I turned around and headed back to our home airport, putting a radio failure code into our transponder to let Air Traffic Control know that we could no longer hear them. We landed without incident and I contacted a mechanic to track down the problem. He discovered that the ammeter had always been right after all. The problem was a faulty main breaker. The only reason I had never had a problem before then was that the breaker happened to work just often enough to allow the battery to charge and I hadn’t flown long enough without it charging for me to wear the battery down before this.
You know, our lives are a lot like that airplane. We are surrounded by indicators, letting us know about the health of our marriages, spirituality, mental health, and physical health. Are you paying attention to what they’re telling you? Or do you blindly carry on, assuming that the gauge is bad or there’s just a loose connection somewhere? What gauges are you ignoring? It’s time to stop and listen to what these indicators are telling you. If you don’t, you’re like we were that day in the plane, flying a hundred and forty miles an hour towards a total failure. the Bible tells us: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). It’s time to stop ignoring the gauges. Spend a few minutes today listening to the indicators and ask God to give you wisdom to ensure that you truly grasp the abundant life Jesus promised.
